An Update on The Canadian Ad Market, With Madison and Wall's Greg McLelland

Greg McLelland was announced as Madison and Wall’s GM Canada and CRO Advisory Practice Lead earlier this month. He and M&W’s Brian Wieser will be hosting a special live event in Toronto on May 8 to talk about the Canadian ad market, the state of the United States and the ways in which policies in the US could yet evolve to impact Canadian media companies and marketers. Contact greg@madisonandwall.com for more information.

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Greg, given the current circumstances, what’s your take on the current mood of Canadian advertisers? And how are the country’s media companies feeling?

I would say media companies are feeling cautiously optimistic, so it is a two-part answer. Firstly, they are feeling cautious. They continue to report revenue down in the single digits across both radio and TV with digital making up some of the shortfall. Secondly, I would say there is some optimism, as their schedules and the current viewership in Canada is actually doing ok, and actually growing in some cases. So I think they’re hoping to see a “levelling out” if you will going forward. Having said all that, as you get into the details, there are a lot of discrepancies across media companies - their networks, day-parts, etc.

Recognizing that the change in relationship with the United States will be the most pronounced factor in the year ahead, how do you think the outcome of the 2025 election will impact the economy in general and the advertising market in particular?

I’m not sure the outcome of the election will change much. Whether it is a Conservative or Liberal government, I don’t think is that important to the question. What we’re seeing is unbelievable. The fundamental change in the Canadian-US relationship! All Canadians and businesses are very worried what comes next, how badly will the tariffs affect the Canadian economy and what will Trump do next!! This election is mainly being debated on who can negotiate with Trump best going forward. All that being said, advertisers are being extremely cautious going forward.

Have you gotten any sense of a “buy Canadian” approach among advertisers? It seems from where we are in the United States that it’s difficult to do, even if a marketer thinks they should. A marketer who wants to buy digital media almost necessarily needs to prioritize US-owned media platforms, and at the same time, if they want television or radio, the choice of medium directs the spending into Canadian media platforms.

Yes, you are correct, there is a lot of support in Canada to buy Canadian, but as you say it is harder to do in reality. All Canadian media companies are pushing hard on this message and advertisers seem receptive, but time will tell if they can actually move dollars to Canadian media. However, with so many Canadian NHL hockey teams in the playoffs that is one place they can put their dollars.

In the US we see persistent shifts among larger advertisers towards digital media in general and away from television as they focus more and more on “performance” based media. As much as TV can drive performance, most marketers tend to prioritize digital platforms for these goals. Do you see the same thing in Canada?

I would say it’s the exact same trend, most if not all large advertisers’ media mix models are North American based, so what we see in the US tends to mirror what we see in Canada.

What are your thoughts around retail media? We know that e-commerce is less present in Canada vs. the US, but do you get a sense that there are any limits to the appetites of marketers – especially in packaged goods, apparel and electronics categories?

I would say from my vantage point, Canada is a few years behind the US in respect to retail media. So we’re still seeing considerable growth and a fairly long runway going forward. I’m sure there will be a limit but we’re probably a few years from that. I have seen direct data from a few retailers. They are seeing big growth in retail media in the last few quarters and are continuing to plan for it in the near and midterm.

Have most large marketers given print up for dead in Canada as they have in the US?

Yes! Though I’m surprised that our large national newspapers seem to continue to have very modest declines, which they do an incredibly good job containing with digital strategies and good cost controls.

Your most recent sales experience was focused more on larger brands, but do you have any sense of the state or health of smaller advertisers? Presumably their health will drive much of Google and Meta’s growth.

In general, our local advertisers have been much more resilient than the large national advertisers from a spend perspective. This is because local businesses focus more on foot traffic and short-term results than national advertisers. And as we know, local television and radio work very well and the local advertiser literally sees that and continues to invest locally.